


Tim Drake & The Good Samaritan

by damianwaynerocks



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), Batman: The Animated Series, DC Extended Universe, Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Batbrothers (DCU), But we still love him, Damian Wayne is a Little Shit, Depressed Tim Drake, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Hurt Tim Drake, No Romance, Sad Tim Drake, Sad with a Happy Ending, Suicide Attempt, This is NOT an ocxtim, Tim Drake Angst, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake is Bad at Self-Care, Tim Drake is Not Okay, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake-centric, WARNING: themes of suicide/depression, mother figure if you squint, sexual assault reference warning, this ends good i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:01:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23934994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damianwaynerocks/pseuds/damianwaynerocks
Summary: Tim gripped the lady's shoulders as hard as he dared- God, he didn't even know her name and he was crying on her shoulder -as she ran her fingers through his hair."Do you want to talk about it?" she asks gently. Tim shakes his head, choking back another sob."I don't want to think about it anymore," he croaks. The woman nods."Okay," she says, "Then are you any good at geometry?"Or, Tim Drake tries to kill himself, whenever a therapist just so happens to stumble upon him. Tim opens up to her and realizes that maybe he's worth more than he thinks.
Relationships: Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne
Comments: 33
Kudos: 685





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I tried not to go TOO into detail, but there is a description of how Tim wants to kill himself. If you want to skip that, I'm putting asterisks (*) around where the descriptions start and end.
> 
> This is also not a romantic story!! This therapist is an adult, and no feelings are involved.

He was done.

Tim Drake was done.

He'd known for a while what was true and what was not. Was he a good son? Not true. Was he simply a placeholder between Jason and Damian? True. Did anybody truly love him? Not true. Was he simply a burden? True.

Did he deserve to be alive? _Definitely_ not true.

Tonight had been the last straw. 

It had been him, Damian and Dick. They were going to bust a human trafficking operation. Tim had been paying attention, he would swear that up and down, but it wasn't enough. He had accidentally kicked a rock, and the traffickers noticed right as they started to pull into Gotham Harbor. With a yell of several crew members, the ship turned back around, into the open sea.

Where the brothers could not get them.

Damian was furious. "You incompetent fice!" he had snarled, "We almost had them! We were going to save _fifty_ women and children, Drake, _fifty!_ "

"You should've been more careful," Dick added, his arms crossed, "You scared them off." Dick never scolded like this. He only did it whenever he was truly upset.

And it was Tim's fault.

"I'm sorry!" he said, Dick clenched his jaw.

"Go home, Red Robin," he ordered. Tim stepped back.

"Good riddance, we'll be much better off without you, Drake," Damian sneered.

_We'll be much better off without you._

Those were the words ringing in Tim's ears as he swung from building to building. The wind was whistling through his hair, and usually, it invigorated Tim.

But not tonight.

Tonight, it just reminded him of what he didn't deserve. 

All he did was mess things up. He'd messed things up with Stephanie. He'd messed up not only this mission but countless missions beforehand. He'd even messed up his goddamn immune system, now that he didn't have a spleen.

Tim knew he wasn't enough. He wasn't enough to make his father, Jack Drake, proud of him. He wasn't enough to make his other father, Bruce Wayne, proud of him either. He wasn't good enough to be Robin, either. Dick had made that clear whenever he'd ripped the title away from him as soon as he laid eyes on Damian, even after he had tried to kill Tim.

Dick probably wished that Damian had succeeded, Tim thought, because Dick would have his Robin, and nobody would have to deal with Tim.

Tim decided at that moment that he was going to take it upon himself to finish what Damian hadn't been able to do. 

He was going to kill himself. 

Tim landed on the roof of an apartment building. He took out his earpiece, which doubled as a tracking device, throwing it on the ground and stomping on it. If he was going to die, he at least wanted to do it without Damian's voice in his ear.

*How to do it? Tim thought. He knew some heroes kept cyanide pills on them in case they were ever captured, but Bruce had refused to allow that. Tim could jump off of the roof, but he was worried that he'd lose his nerve and grapple to safety before he could reach the ground. 

There was only one way that he could think of.

Tim pulled off his gloves one at a time, letting them land on the ground. He took a Batarang, razor-sharp, out of his utility belt, and held it to his wrist. He took a deep breath, excited. He would finally be free. He would be free from the pain, from the knowledge that he was worthless. Better yet, his family would be free of him. 

_We'll be much better off without you._

With a small smile, Tim started to slide the blade across his wris-*

"No!" 

Tim whirled around, now poised to throw the Batarang. Hey, just because Tim was going to die, didn't mean he was going to let someone else die first. His eyes slid around the rooftop, looking for danger, but he only saw a woman.

She looked to be around Bruce's age, but there was something about her that was completely different than Bruce; her eyes had feeling in them.

"Please don't do it, Red Robin," the woman urged, "Please. Please stay."

"No," Tim replied stiffly. The woman took a deep breath.

"Okay," she said slowly, "But will you please have a cup of tea with me first? It isn't every day I get to meet a hero.

 _A hero._ She thought he was a hero.

But she was wrong.

Before he could stop himself, he had thrown himself in her arms. She wrapped them around him, holding him tightly.

Tim gripped the lady's shoulders as hard as he dared- God, he didn't even know her name and he was crying on her shoulder -as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked gently. Tim shakes his head, choking back another sob. 

"I don't want to think about it anymore," he croaked. The woman nodded.

"Okay," she said, "Then are you any good at geometry?"

Tim stiffed, then replied, "Yeah." The woman smiled.

"Would you mind helping my son, then? He's a freshman at Southwest High, and he's having trouble with his homework right now. And I think you could really help him."

_You could really help him._

Tim nodded, shakily stepping back from the woman. She smiled warmly, grasping his hand as she led him off of the roof and down the stairs. "My name's Emira," she introduced herself, "But you can call me Emma. All of my friends do."

_Friend._

"My name's-" he broke off, unsure of what he should say. Emma seemed to understand his hesitation.

"You don't have to tell me your real name," she assured him, "How about I call you Red?" Tim smiled weakly, and Emma took that to mean he agreed. "Alright, Red, here's the door." she fished a key out of her pocket, and opened the door to her apartment, Tim following.

The first thing he noticed was the Cross. There was a portrait of Jesus Christ on the Cross sitting above their table. 

The table which had a young boy, around Damian's age, sitting at it, his brows scrunched in concentration.

"Hey, Danny!" Emma said, flashing her son a brilliant smile, "I found you a tutor!"

"Mom, I don't need a-" Danny stopped talking as he turned around, his jaw dropped. "Red Robin!?" he squeaked, "You're my favorite hero! And you're in my house!" he jumped up, smiling so wide it was almost unsettling, "You're the coolest! Holy crap!"

_You're the coolest._

"Hi, Danny!" Tim greeted, "It's nice to meet you! So your mom says you need help with geometry?"

It took ten minutes, but Emma and Tim finally wrangled Danny to the table, where Tim was now helping him.

"See, you just gotta remember SohCahToa," Tim explained, "It's the easiest way to remember sine, cosine, and tangent." 

Danny stuck his tongue out slightly in a way that reminded him of Damian. Tim's heart sank at the realization, all of his positive feelings sank with it.

_We'll be much better off without you._

"Thanks, Red Robin!" Danny said excitedly after he'd finished his assignment and Tim had double-checked it, making sure that all of the answers were correct.

"Okay, Danny," Emma spoke up from where she'd been silently watching the two, "It's eleven. Time for bed."

"But Mom _Red Robin_ is here-"

"You know what else is here? A big test tomorrow. You need your sleep."

Danny sighed, before looking at Tim and fishing his phone out of his pocket. "Do you mind if we take a picture? My friends will never believe I met the coolest of the Bat People!"

_The coolest of the Bat People._

"Of course, Danny!" Tim replied, ruffling the kid's hair. After five minutes of multiple selfies on Snapchat, Danny gave Tim a hug, which Tim returned without hesitation.

"Goodnight!" Danny chirped and walked to what Tim presumed to be his bedroom.

After hearing the door shut, Emma turned to the hero. "Now, how do you like your tea?"

"Earl Gray, please."

As Emma set the kettle on the stove, she turned back to Tim. "He adores you," she said, referring to her son, "He wasn't lying. You mean so much to him."

_You mean so much to him._

Tim sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Yeah, well, he's the only one then," he muttered. Emma waited for him to continue, and when he didn't, she spoke.

"I'm a therapist, you know," she stated, "So I can't tell anybody anything you say. HIPPA violation, jail time, and a huge fine and all that."

"This isn't an official session, so it doesn't apply." 

Emma shrugged. "Maybe not legally, but if anybody gets wind of me telling anybody anything someone tells me in confidence, my clients will stop trusting me and stop coming, So my point's still there."

Tim bit his lip, looking up. This woman didn't know who he was, and judging from the average apartment, she had no connections to Bruce, which meant she wouldn't tell him- not that he'd care, of course, but still. Besides, it isn't like he'd ever see her again. "Maybe... maybe it wouldn't hurt."

Emma smiled warmly. "I promise, it won't," she turned back to the kettle as it whistled, and she poured the tea into two cups. Walking over to the table, she handed one to Tim, before sitting down herself. "Can I ask what led up to tonight?"

Tim looked down at his tea, not meeting her eyes. "I messed up bad tonight," he whispered, "Real bad."

"What do you think you did?"

"I-" Tim swallowed a gulp, "Nightwing and Robin and I were going to bust a human trafficking ring. Their ship was about to pull into the harbor, but I wasn't being careful enough. I knew they had motion detectors around the area, but I still wasn't paying attention enough not to _kick a rock,"_ He ran a hand through his hair, "And of course they saw, and they got away. And it was my fault."

"Who told you that it was your fault?"

"Nightwing and Robin."

Emma reached across the table to clasp his left hand in her right. "Tell me, Red, has Nightwing or Robin ever messed up a mission?"

Tim paused. There was one time where Dick was arguing with Jason, and Dick pushed Jason into the warehouse they were staking out, ruining any chance at catching a serial rapist for months. And then there was the time where Damian had been too hasty and let a serial killer get away because he refused to listen for Nightwing's signal. "Yeah, a few times," Tim finally said.

"See?" Emma said with another one of her warm smiles, "They aren't perfect either. So why do you have to be?"

_They aren't perfect either._

"Because!" Tim groaned, "Batman chose them. He wanted them to be apart of the hero business. Me? I _forced_ him to make me Robin. Nobody _chose_ me. I wasn't wanted!"

"How old were you when you became Robin?"

"Like, eleven."

"Do you honestly think that Batman couldn't have simply wiped an eleven-year old's brain and sent him home if he didn't see something special in you?"

_See something special in you._

Tim took a sip of his tea. "I... I guess not. But still! The Robin before me had just... quit. Batman probably just used me as a distraction from the pain of it. I was just a placeholder."

Emma took a sip of her own tea, thinking. "A placeholder? Because there's a new Robin?"

"Yes," Tim confirmed, "Exactly. I was Robin for a while, but as soon as Batman and Nightwing found someone else who had already been trained, who was Batman's... nephew," he paused, "They got rid of me! They made me stop being Robin! Nightwing retired, the other one quit, but me? I didn't have a choice!"

"And why do you think that-"

"And the worst part!?" Tim interrupted her, "This new kid? He tried to kill me! He had a sword and he was trying to kill me because he thought he deserved the title just because he was Batman's nephew! And he never got in trouble for it! They rewarded him with what he wanted!" he stopped nervously. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you." Emma waved her hand dismissively. 

"Don't worry about it," she paused she took a sip of her tea, "Do you think there could be any possible reason as to why they made him Robin?"

Tim snorted. "Yeah, I know exactly why. They liked him better than me. He was better than me at fighting. He wasn't as scared as I was at first," he laughed bitterly, "Honestly, Emma? I think the reason they rewarded him was because he had the guts to do what the others were too apprehensive to do; get rid of me."

"Can I tell you what I think might have had something to do with it?" Emma asked, and Tim nodded his permission. "It sounds like this new Robin has a lot of rage. Do you think that maybe Batman and Nightwing knew that he needed an outlet for that and that the safest way to do that might be if they could keep an eye on him?"

"I... guess," Tim admitted begrudgingly, "But still! They didn't punish him or anything!"

"How are you so sure? Did you see what happened after?"

Tim bit his lip again. "I mean, not really? I left whenever Nightwing told me I couldn't be Robin anymore." he shook his head. "Even if maybe Nightwing didn't see any other way, that doesn't explain why they treat me like shit now!" 

"How so?" Emma asked, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Like, I'll be gone on a mission for weeks and when I get back, they hadn't even noticed I was gone!" Tim counted off the reasons on his fingers, "Or when it's clear I'm upset, nobody bothers to ask! And nobody ever reprimands Robin for all the terrible things to me! And all Batman does it tell me what I do wrong!"

"What things does Robin say to you?"

"Oh, you know," Tim rolled his eyes, "That I'm useless. That I'm slow. Just today, like an hour ago, he said that everyone would be better off if I was gone. I hate that he has this much power over me, but his words won't leave my head; _we'll be much better off without you._ "

"Well, I can tell you right now that Danny wouldn't be," Emma said, "Because if he had failed that assignment, he would've gotten detention, and I wouldn't have time to pick up his new inhaler."

"Danny has asthma?" Tim asked with a frown. Emma nodded.

"Yes, but it's okay now because I'll be able to get the medicine. Now, back to you. Do you think that the reason Robin is so mean to you is that he's insecure?"

"Robin? Insecure?" Tim snorted, "As if. He's the most arrogant person I know."

"The most insecure people are almost always the most arrogant. Is there anything he would have to be insecure about? Maybe that... he's intimidated by you?"

That made Tim laugh out loud. Damian? Intimidated by Tim? Never. "Definitely not."

"Are you sure? Because it sounds like he just wants to prove that he's just as good as you," Emma countered, "Or maybe- not saying that it's your fault because you definitely don't deserve to be treated like that-"

_You don't deserve to be treated like that._

"Maybe you haven't tried to show him that you don't want to be enemies?"

Tim took a sip of his tea. "I mean, yeah, I don't want our relationship to be like this. I'd love to be close to him. I was so excited when I first heard about him- before I met him, obviously -because I was finally getting a younger brother."

"Have you ever let him know that?"

"I guess not," Tim said with a frown, "But it doesn't really matter. He won't care. None of them will, even if they did know I'm hurting."

"Why don't you try?" Emma offered, "It couldn't hurt, right?"

"Yeah, except then they'll think I'm even weaker than they thought. They'll think I'm pathetic, and then Batman will make me stop being Red Robin, too." His grip around his cup tightened. "And then they'd kick me out. And I live with Batman, Emma. I don't have a place to go."

"You could come here," Emma offered, "I really don't think they'd kick you out, but if you're right, you are absolutely welcome here. I promise. You're wonderful company, Red."

_You're wonderful company._

Tim sighed. "Thanks, that means a lot, but you don't have to lie," his bottom lip trembled, "I know I'm worthless. I don't matter. All I do is fuck up."

The pair were silent for a minute, the only noise being Tim's tears falling into his cup of tea. Emma was the first one to break the silence.

"Say, do you happen to be the first Robin that wore pants?"

Tim sniffled. "Yeah." Emma's face broke into another warm smile.

"Well, that Robin saved my life. Two men were dragging me into an alley, whenever you stopped them. Without Batman, I might add."

Tim blinked. "Without Batman?" he whispered.

Emma nodded. "Without Batman. All on your own, Red. If it weren't for you, I'd probably be dead, and Danny would be an orphan."

Tim smiled weakly. "It wasn't a problem, really."

"I know it wasn't, because that's what you do. You save people," she gave him another reassuring squeeze. "Now, Red, have you ever been in a position where Batman or Nightwing saved you?"

_That's what you do. You save people._

"Yeah," Tim answered, once again not meeting her eyes, "I was locked in a warehouse. A bomb was strapped to me, about to go off. Batman came in and- and I've never seen him like that. So... a mess," he paused, "I haven't thought about that in a while. I guess that means he cares."

"That definitely means he cares," Emma corrected him. Tim smiled, but it was replaced by a frown as he began to sob again.

"Maybe he did then, but now- now he has his new Robin. He doesn't care, none of them do," he blinked back tears, "I don't have anything to look forward to. My days are filled with insults and complaints. There's nothing good." His hands shaking, he took another sip of his Earl Gray.

"Then look forward to this," Emma said, "Every week. Eat dinner with Danny and I, and then when he goes to bed we can drink tea and talk some. And if you ever, and I mean _ever_ , need a place to crash, you can always come here."

If Tim thought he'd run out of tears before, he was wrong. He started crying again. Nobody had been so nice, so _warm_ to him, in years.

Emma got up and enveloped him in another hug. "Will you promise me something, Red?" she whispered, and at Tim's nod, she continued. "Promise me you'll tell your family how you feel, okay? And promise me you'll come back and tell me next week. And if you need something from me between then and now, promise me that you'll come, okay?"

"I promise," Tim agreed, sobbing into her shirt.

The next thirty minutes were spent with Tim wrapped up in Emma's arm, still in full Red Robin uniform minus the gloves, watching _Star Wars: The Phantom Menace_. Tim hadn't been so at peace in as long as he could remember. His mom had always been distant, and Catwoman wasn't exactly a mother figure, so honestly? Being curled up in Emma was the closest he'd ever gotten to feeling a mother's love.

He would go back to the Manor after the movie, he told himself. He would tell them how he felt. He would try to mend his relationship with Damian. But first, he was going to soak in the feeling of a mother's embrace. 

He was still nervous about it, but little did he know. Little did he know that Dick would break down crying and hug him, whispering apology after apology into his ear. Little did he know that Bruce would be riddled with guilt because _how could he not have noticed that his son was hurting_ and would tell him he loved him so much. Little did he know that Damian, although he didn't show hurt much he regretted his harsh words, would shake Tim's hand and agree to try. Little did he know that every Thursday after he would have dinner and tea with Emma and Danny, to the point that he would reveal his secret identity to the family and make sure that Danny was enrolled at Gotham Academy. Little did he know that it wouldn't take long for Emma to start seeing him as another son, and she would not be scared to tell him how much she loved him and how proud of him she was.

Tim would find out these things later. But for now?

Tim just let himself sink into a mother's embrace.


	2. Tim & Scenes of Him Being Motheres

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just that; a couple scenes that I felt like writing between Emma and Tim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first scene includes references to Tim's attempted sexual assault during the Red Robin comic series. If you want to skip that, I'll put asterisks (*) around the scene. It's important for me to write, though, because DC is terrible and handling sexual assault, and it's never brought up again.
> 
> But most of this is just Tim learning what it's like for someone to be emotionally honest with him about how much they care.  
> It isn't long, but I think it's cute.

It'd been three months since that fateful visit.

Tim was still depressed. He still had suicidal ideation, but he'd never tried to kill himself a second time. Whenever he was thinking about suicide- not planning on it, just thinking about how he would do it and what would happen -he would go to Emma's apartment and she would talk him down.

Tonight wasn't one of those times though.

*While Bruce was missing, around the early days of Damian being Robin, Tim had set out to find his father. In the process, he'd gotten involved with the League of Assassins, and Ra's had attempted to organize him to be raped. It had almost happened; his clothes were off, and the woman was about to begin -before Tim's sister, Cassandra, had stopped her.

Tim hadn't been raped.

But he was still traumatized.

It was bad tonight. Killer Croc had managed to rip open the top of his suit, exposing his chest, and Tim couldn't take it. He could feel a panic attack coming on, and Dick must've noticed because he said _"I've got this. Go to them."_

Dick didn't know who Emma was; none of them did. Well, Barbara and Bruce probably knew, but they hadn't said anything if they did.

All the others knew was that Tim had somebody who was helping him through this.

Tim nodded, his chest tightening, and sprinted away. He was less than a block away from the apartment, he could probably make it. His hands shaking, he managed to grapple up to the balcony and bang on the door once, before collapsing.

Emma was by his side at once. "Okay, Red," she said calmly, "Breathe. Can you handle listening to my voice? Or is it making you nervous?"

Tim shook his head, letting her know that it wasn't bothering him, and Emma began to help him with deep breaths, breathing in and out along with him as she guided him into the apartment. 

Ten minutes later, he was coming down from it. Emma was holding his hand tightly, and said, "Red, I want you to look around and tell me how many things in this room are blue." Tim did as she asked, his eyes flitting around before muttering to her that there were ten things. It was a grounding exercise, he knew.

After the worst had passed, he threw himself into her arms just as he did every Thursday. "Emma," he choked out, "He tried to- he tried to r- ruh-" 

Emma hugged him tighter as she realized what he was trying to say. The two stayed like that for what seemed like hours but couldn't have been more than minutes, Emma rocking him back and forth gently, before Tim spoke again.

"They wanted me to have a kid," he whispered, "Because they knew I wouldn't do what they wanted, so they just wanted me to have a kid so they tried to.. do that to me." he broke down again, sobbing into her shirt as he held her tight.*

Emma said nothing. She knew nothing she could say would help right now, except for one thing; "It wasn't your fault."

Tim calmed down eventually, shaking as he sat up. He started to apologize, before closing his mouth. Emma had made him promise not to apologize for having feelings. "Can I... could I stay here tonight?" he asked tentatively. 

Emma smiled warmly. "Of course you can. I'll get you some of David's clothes and you can sleep in my bed. I'll take the couch." 

David Jordan was Emma's husband. Or, he was. He had died in a botched mugging a few years back. Tim followed Emma into her bedroom, standing silently as she handed him a shirt and sweatpants. "You can sleep in your mask, of course," she said, "I don't want you to feel forced to tell me who you are, Red."

"It's Tim."

Emma blinked at him. "Tim? That's your name?"

Tim smiled weakly. "Yeah. Tim Drake-Wayne." he flinched. Why did he do that? She definitely wouldn't let him come back now, she probably would think he was a spoiled little rich boy who couldn't handle his problems.

So imagine his surprise whenever she wrapped him in another hug. 

"Nice to meet you, Tim Drake-Wayne," she whispered, "The CEO of Wayne Enterprises?" she stepped back, looking at him with pride shining in her eyes, "I'm _so proud_ of you!" 

_Proud of you._

* * *

"Emma you will _never_ freaking believe what went down at the office today."

"Ooh, tell me about it."

Tim sat down at the table, throwing his mask down and rubbing his eyes. "So, this guy from Metropolis moved to Gotham, right? He was some big-shot accountant, apparently pretty great at his job. But apparently he didn't do his research!" he sighed a thanks as Emma handed him his Earl Gray, and continued. "So he had an interview with me, right? Well, he had no idea what I looked like, only that he was meeting with Tim Drake-Wayne. So I'm walking to the interview room, and I pass him, and this man says all snotty and Damian-like, "Hey intern, do me a favor and get me some coffee, will ya? I have an interview with someone important.'" Tim threw his hands in the air, "Like, the audacity! Not only did he clearly not value us enough to look up who he was meeting with, but he treated someone who he thought was an intern with disrespect! And we don't tolerate disrespect to _anyone_ at Wayne Enterprises."

"What did his face look like when he realized you were Tim Drake-Wayne?" Emma asked, looking engrossed in his story. Tim snorted a laugh.

"So, I got him the coffee, right? And he said 'Thanks, kid, now run along.' So his face when he walked into the interview and realized who I was? Priceless!" he twisted his face into a shocked expression, showing her what the man looked like. "Needless to say, he didn't get the job."

"Good for you, not letting disrespect for anyone slide!" Emma praised, and Tim's face lit up.

"So how's it going with you and Damian?" she asked. Tim leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head as he shrugged.

"Pretty good, considering. Like, yesterday, he only insulted me three times and yeah, he tried to stab me with a butter knife, but he didn't go for a sharp knife. That's called _progress."_

"That's so good!" Emma said with a bright smile, "I'm so happy for you!"

"Hey, speaking of Damian-kinda," he leaned forward, "So, you totally can say no if you want, but a slot in Gotham Academy just opened up, and I think Danny has the grades to make it. Are you cool with him enrolling there?"

Emma's eyes lit up, and Tim's chest felt a burst of pride at it. "Of course!" she said excitedly, "That sounds amazing! You're the best, Tim!"

_You're the best, Tim._

* * *

Danny hugged his binder close to his chest as he looked up at the school. Tim had promised that his little brother, Damian, would give him a tour, but it was nerve-wracking. After all, Gotham Academy was full of rich kids and geniuses, not to mention _Robin_. He squared his shoulders. But Tim believed in him, and that was what was important.

He walked into the building, and went to the office, where he gave his name. The secretary smiled at him, and gave him his schedule. Danny walked out of the office, and ran into someone as he did so. Danny's face paled.

It was Damian Wayne.

"Watch it, kid," the other boy snapped, "Or I-" he stopped talking as he realized who Danny was. "Oh, it's you. Daniel Jordan."

"Yeah, but you can call me Danny," Danny said, "Everyone does." Damian sucked in his teeth.

"I will call you 'Jordan.'

Danny blinked. "Wow, you're exactly like Tim said you were."

It was a good day, considering, until the end. It was Danny's last class of the day, and he didn't have it with Damian, so he had nobody to sit by. A girl named Maps, one of Damian's friends, had introduced herself earlier in the day, so he had another person to sit by, but she didn't have that class with him, either.

Danny breathed a sigh of relief as the bell rang. He walked out of the classroom before he was shoved into a locker.

"Hey, new kid," a tall boy with blonde hair sneered, "Nice uniform. Looks pretty used," he laughed, "Let me guess; scholarship? A poor kid?"

Danny opened his mouth to say something sharp back- his father had taught him to stand up for himself -but Damian's voice broke in before he could.

"Conner," he said with venom in his voice, "Let him go, before I _make_ you."

Conner- which was probably his last name, Danny thought -blinked, and dropped him. Danny had heard rumors all day of Damian being someone you didn't want to piss off, because he wasn't scared to break your nose, not to mention that his father was _Bruce Wayne_. "Fine," the kid choked out, and walked off.

Damian walked to Danny, extending a hand to help him off the floor. Danny took it. "Thanks," he said.

Damian scoffed. "Do not thank me. I only assisted because of how much your mother has helped Drake." he looked Danny up and down. "You should work on your defensive skills, they are abysmal."

Danny just grinned. Tim had already told him that if Damian told him to work on something, it meant he cared. "Will do," he chirped.

* * *

Tim was excited. It was Thursday, which meant he would get to see Danny and Emma, his two favorite people. He landed on the balcony with a tuck and roll, and excitedly knocked on the door. Danny opened it with a wide smile and jumped into his arms.

"I missed you, too!" Tim greeted. Danny grabbed his hand and dragged him inside.

"Come on, come on!" he said excitedly, "We have a surprise for you!"

Tim ran inside after him, and the younger boy led him to the living room, where Emma was. Danny pointed at the wall. "Ta-da!"

Tim's heart swelled.

On either side of the tv were two pictures. The one on the left was Danny's most recent school picture. The one on the right?

A framed picture of Tim's formal CEO picture. 

"I hope you're okay with this," Emma said, "We can take it down if you aren't. It's just, you're family, you know? And we love you."

Tim hugged her, Danny joining. The three remained in a group hug for a few minutes, Tim's face split into a wide smile.

_You're family, you know? And we love you._


End file.
